I sit here Saturday afternoon watching the weather which has turned from snow to sleet That's the beauty of retirement.
           One does not have any obligation to go out in what is likely to be the crazy pre-Christmas Saturday traffic. 
           I should have gone to the Lionel Clubhouse in New Lenox but the weather "hype" of a Winter Storm Watch caused me to
           play it cool and stay home.  Well that's my story for this week and I'm sticking to it.  I have mentioned before that I
           have not been there much lately and I have a decision to make.  Dues increase to $150 next year.  I was happy to
           support the club at $40.00 and visit occasionally, at $150 it becomes a different story.  This is especially true when
           the other club I belong to just went back to $25.00 per month ($300 per year, fewer members).  Then if I add a seasonal
           club in Florida at $20.00 per month it could be an expensive hobby.  I will take a break now while I decide what other
           ideas to hijack from my friend Don's website.  If imitation is the finest form of flattery then he should be bursting.  He is
           one of my heroes. I don't regard football players as heroes, I'm too old, baseball players maybe since Don has some
           Grandsons that aspire to baseball prominence. I think Don would agree that heroes should be people that touch your
           lives not anyone on TV etc. I strive to look at the world through his positive eyes but often times fail.  Sometimes it
           is just simple disagreement about issues on which we can agree to disagree without being disagreeable.

               Sunday we returned to our normal schedule of 10:30 mass.  Once again, Father Artur was eloquent in hi simplicity. 
          As usual he left the Ambo leaving us with something to ponder and work at in our own daily lives. The breakfast group
          has somewhat disbanded.  The Thayer's are busy with other things.  Now that I have retired from choir I don't see much
          of the Hohners since they are busy with cantoring and choir and our schedules are quite different.  The Krajewskis part
          of the regulars, have moved and joined a new parish.  We did see them a few Sundays ago for Breakfast.  We went to
          9:00AM and met them after their 9:15 mass at a restaurant near Lockport. However, since we are normally at 10:30 and
          Joe's choir sings every week at 9:15 the schedules do not match very well. So since it was a rainy Sunday Mary decided
          we would stay a little dry by going home for breakfast. That was followed by the usual Sunday football.  Unfortunately,
          no one told the Bears that games are 60 minutes long. The Giants scored twice in the last 5 minutes or so of the 4th quarter
          to win going away.  The big game of the week was the Monday Night Surprise.  The Ravens, huge underdogs, gave
          New England all they could handle for 58 minutes. They had the Pats stopped on 4th and 1 but the Ravens called time
          before the snap giving the Pats new life and the rest is history.  The Redskins, on Sunday had Buffalo in a 51 yard field
          goal opportunity with little time left.  In an effort to "ice" the kicker they called time.  Buffalo set up again and the skins
          called another time out.  This resulted in a 15 yard penalty making the kick and easy 36 yarder for the win.

              On Monday I met the "guys" at the Center for coffee.  After coffee I went to my insurance agent to arrange to have the
          lien holder changed on the new Santa Fe.  When I refinanced it through my credit union I completely forgot to change it. 
          On the way home I stopped at St Julie to pick up an item.  When I arrived home Mary and I decided to go to Frankfort to
          pick up the vehicle we were putting in shape for the Florida trip.  Unfortunately, a wheel cover had been ordered and
          an incorrect item came in.  This will require a return trip between snow storms to pick it up.  Monday night we looked in
          on the game that was supposed to be a rout described above, It turns out that Baltimore gave New England all they
          could handle. Leading by 4 points and causing New End into a 4th and one with the game on the line the Ravens
          stopped the Pats cold.Unfortunately someone from Baltimore had called time before the snap giving New England
          another shot.  That's all they needed.  The Pats made the first down and with the help of penalties Brady threw the
          go ahead touchdown and two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties let New England kick off from the Baltimore 35 putting
          them in a tough spot for a comeback.  However, the Ravens may have set the blueprint for future teams to handle
          New England.  

             Tuesday was rather uneventful.  After my annual December 4 shower,  I met for my weekly session with my personal
          trainer. They have a great new machine called a Nu Step that is great it is a recumbent trainer which is a stepping motion
          instead of a bike. Following that I fixed dinner.  My fixing dinner means I stop at the Subway for sandwiches and chips for
          a casual in front of the TV dinner.  We watched one of Mary's favorites the Biggest Loser Weight Loss Challenge.  This was
          a two hour episode of an inspiring reality show.  I followed that with an episode of Frank TV.  Frank is Frank Caliendo,
          an impressionist who is quite good  and who I recommend Tuesday night at 10PM on TBS Comcast 99.  Following that
          I did my typical late Tuesday night St Julie update.

             On Wednesday morning I continued working on this laptop which had lost it's ability to communicate with my wireless hub.
         Previously I had discovered that the wireless driver had disappeared. I had unsuccessfully attempted to find one on the
         Toshiba site so I did the unthinkable. I backed up a few items and did a complete restore using the factory disk.  Having
         done that I had some difficulty in reloading application software but was able to straighten that out and get it
         back to normal.

            Thursday dawned as a bitter cold day.  If we had our upcoming medical appointments completed, an ideal day to
        go south.  I know I should make a visit to the Sportsplex, but it is tooo  cold.  Perhaps after tomorrows medical appointment
        I'll go.  I'll be out  anyway and maybe it will be warmer. I just watched the season pretty much end for the Bears as they lost
        to the Redskins who broke their own 4 game losing streak.  The Redskins at 6 and 7 still have a mathematical chance
        although in reality they probably won't get there.  The Bears however, fall to 5 and 8 and basically are done, although
        winning out would leave them 8 an 8 which could make it.  I need to hit the sack as I have an early medical appointment
        (at least early for me).

            Friday I was up rather early for me the typical night owl and late riser. I had to get cleaned up for an appointment
        with a Neurologist which had been recommended by my Cardiologist and Family doctor.  Everything seemed pretty OK
        except for some right hip movement which we decided should be addressed by my Orthopedist. It was also decided to
       do a brain MRI to see if anything there. I think I can answer that. No, seriously the idea is to see if there is any change
       in the brain arterial plaque that caused the minor stroke in 2000.  That appointment is scheduled  for next Friday at
       3PM.  Hopefully there will not be anything that interferes with our Florida Christmas trip and snowbird stay. 
       Following that I went to Currie Motors in Frankfort to have the new wheel cover which had finally come in installed. 
       That puts the finishing touch on the car that we will be taking to Florida and leaving.  After that I went to the Sportsplex
       for a short workout.  Mary  has gone to a shawl meeting followed by a Christmas "girl gathering."  Perhaps next week's
       writing will be a bit more interesting as we hopefully start preparing for our trip.